Unintended Triple Zero
This was supposed to only be a double zero.
The first zero day started out pretty normal. I did my usual recovery day things, such as napping, going to the gym to use the hot tub, and eating as much as I could. Then I got a surprise when I went on Facebook to check out trail reports. There was nasty virus running through the PCT hiker ranks that was causing severe vomiting and diarrhea, pretty much in the area I had just come from and was soon heading: from Whitewater Preserve to Big Bear to Deep Creek to just past I-15. Uh, oh. Most people were suspecting it was the norovirus, which is highly contagious. Well, crap. I clicked on one the the articles about a PCT hiker being airlifted off the trail around Deep Creek and was shocked to see it was Elinor, who had waited with me in Idyllwild until 10 pm when my ride showed up. Luckily, Daniel commented on that thread that she was OK and returning to the trail soon. I also read about two hikers who had to be rescued from the trail this week due to heat exhaustion. I suddenly felt better about all those shade breaks I was taking a couple days ago.
On the second zero day I continued to sleep and eat. It is probably the only time in my life when calories will be this important. I usually rehydrate a packaged backpacker meal for dinner on the trail, and noticed a huge difference in my energy levels when I switched to packages that had two or more servings. Today was also an interesting day to check trail conditions/updates on Facebook. There was a storm moving through southern California. It was raining where I was, but I knew it was supposed to snow in Wrightwood, the area I was headed next. Apparently it was snowing all over the trail. Mt. Laguna looked like a winter wonderland. So did the pictures from Big Bear. Mt. San Jacinto was completely coated in scary looking clouds. The one that really got me was video from Splinters Cabin, around mile 299. Someone posted video of themselves walking through snow there. Just past Splinters Cabin was where my thermometer fist hit 100 degrees (F) early this week. I can't even imagine how the temperature could change that much in such a short time.
It was obviously a good day to take a zero. I checked the forecast for this week. The storm would be pretty much over, but the first two days of the week were still going to be pretty chilly with it warming up drastically towards the end of the week (with winds picking up as well). I checked the elevation profile of the next part of the trail and it looked like I would be at high elevation at the beginning of the week and low elevation at the end of the week. Of course.
I went out to dinner in Laguna Beach at the restaurant Mozambique. I used to love going to Mozambique. I "dressed up" by wearing jeans, my Yosemite T-shirt, and a jacket that was not a backpacker puffy. When I got to Laguna Beach, I realized that my attire did not constitute dressing up. The restaurant was packed, there was live music, and a lot of "polished" people dressed to the nines. I felt pretty inadequate. I was also used to bland backpacker food so my order seemed a little more spicy than usual. It was good, just spicy.
I ended up taking a third zero day because it was 10 pm when I got back from Laguna Beach. I still hadn't repacked or done laundry. I could stay up late or I could take another day off. I decided to take another day, not just to get more sleep, but because there was more prep work I needed to do for further down the trail. Also, the house was filthy and all of the stuff I had hastily moved into one of the rooms before I hit the trail needed to be organized. So I spent the third day doing these things and catching up on current events. That last part made me wish I was back on the trail. Some of that stuff was hitting way too close to home. Literally. The San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, where I regularly recreate and also happens to be the section where the trail heads next, is one of the national monuments "under review" due to an executive order. Some of my favorite wildflower hot spots also made the list.
The first zero day started out pretty normal. I did my usual recovery day things, such as napping, going to the gym to use the hot tub, and eating as much as I could. Then I got a surprise when I went on Facebook to check out trail reports. There was nasty virus running through the PCT hiker ranks that was causing severe vomiting and diarrhea, pretty much in the area I had just come from and was soon heading: from Whitewater Preserve to Big Bear to Deep Creek to just past I-15. Uh, oh. Most people were suspecting it was the norovirus, which is highly contagious. Well, crap. I clicked on one the the articles about a PCT hiker being airlifted off the trail around Deep Creek and was shocked to see it was Elinor, who had waited with me in Idyllwild until 10 pm when my ride showed up. Luckily, Daniel commented on that thread that she was OK and returning to the trail soon. I also read about two hikers who had to be rescued from the trail this week due to heat exhaustion. I suddenly felt better about all those shade breaks I was taking a couple days ago.
On the second zero day I continued to sleep and eat. It is probably the only time in my life when calories will be this important. I usually rehydrate a packaged backpacker meal for dinner on the trail, and noticed a huge difference in my energy levels when I switched to packages that had two or more servings. Today was also an interesting day to check trail conditions/updates on Facebook. There was a storm moving through southern California. It was raining where I was, but I knew it was supposed to snow in Wrightwood, the area I was headed next. Apparently it was snowing all over the trail. Mt. Laguna looked like a winter wonderland. So did the pictures from Big Bear. Mt. San Jacinto was completely coated in scary looking clouds. The one that really got me was video from Splinters Cabin, around mile 299. Someone posted video of themselves walking through snow there. Just past Splinters Cabin was where my thermometer fist hit 100 degrees (F) early this week. I can't even imagine how the temperature could change that much in such a short time.
It was obviously a good day to take a zero. I checked the forecast for this week. The storm would be pretty much over, but the first two days of the week were still going to be pretty chilly with it warming up drastically towards the end of the week (with winds picking up as well). I checked the elevation profile of the next part of the trail and it looked like I would be at high elevation at the beginning of the week and low elevation at the end of the week. Of course.
I went out to dinner in Laguna Beach at the restaurant Mozambique. I used to love going to Mozambique. I "dressed up" by wearing jeans, my Yosemite T-shirt, and a jacket that was not a backpacker puffy. When I got to Laguna Beach, I realized that my attire did not constitute dressing up. The restaurant was packed, there was live music, and a lot of "polished" people dressed to the nines. I felt pretty inadequate. I was also used to bland backpacker food so my order seemed a little more spicy than usual. It was good, just spicy.
I ended up taking a third zero day because it was 10 pm when I got back from Laguna Beach. I still hadn't repacked or done laundry. I could stay up late or I could take another day off. I decided to take another day, not just to get more sleep, but because there was more prep work I needed to do for further down the trail. Also, the house was filthy and all of the stuff I had hastily moved into one of the rooms before I hit the trail needed to be organized. So I spent the third day doing these things and catching up on current events. That last part made me wish I was back on the trail. Some of that stuff was hitting way too close to home. Literally. The San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, where I regularly recreate and also happens to be the section where the trail heads next, is one of the national monuments "under review" due to an executive order. Some of my favorite wildflower hot spots also made the list.
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